Loki: Agent of Asgard #7

by Kalem Lalonde on October 18, 2014

Written by: Al Ewing
Art by: Jorge Coelho

The march to Axis continues as Loki was bested and imprisoned by Doom and Latveria erupts into turmoil.

After an excruciating hiatus, Loki: Agent of Asgard returned while diving straight into a crossover. The book shifted focus from Loki to Doctor Doom and while I can understand some people disliking the notion of Loki becoming a side-player in his own book, I loved the switch. Ewing characterized Doom to perfection and demonstrated an acute comprehension of the character. The issue started the sophomore arc of this series in great fashion and this issue continues to prove why Loki: Agent of Asgard is so special.

We start off with a brief scene between Odin, Freya and Loki in which Freya reveals the older Loki’s presence in the present to Odin. Ewing writes some good dialogue here but the scene proves to be irrelevant in regards to the rest of the issue. It’s a disjointed scene and the transition between the two storylines lacks adequate cohesion. It didn’t drastically lessen my enjoyment of this issue but it was a clunky segment in what is otherwise a great issue.

As previously stated, Ewing captures Doom’s personality exquisitely. His gargantuan ego, lust for power and massive intelligence are all very present in this Doom. The story is comprised of Doom attempting to control the pestilent Latverian’s who are otherwise in thrall to their master.  It’s interesting to see how Victor reacts to insubordination and his logical deciphering of the situation is great. Reading this arc has made me crave a Doom book by Al Ewing, so Marvel make that happen!

The tie-in aspect of this comic is a mixed bag. The Latverian chaos is great and causes the plot to be full of great moments for Doom. It also explains the battle between the two construction workers last issue. What doesn’t function, however is the inclusion of Magneto in this issue. He just walks in during the conflict to set-up Axis #3, which inevitably ends up feeling forced and lacks context if you aren’t reading Axis. The rest of the issue did a good job standing on its own, however and Ewing deserves credit for that!

Jorge Coelho returns on art duties this issue and improves over the last issue. His facial expression are weak but with a comic centered on Doom that isn’t much of a problem. He conveys emotion well in his posture and eyes. I’ll be glad to have Garbett back next issue, but Coelho was a solid fill-in artist.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #7 is an awesome Doctor Doom comic. Ewing does such an excellent job at portraying the egotistical genius and any fan of Doom should pick this comic up. It’s got great writing, cool art and wit spread throughout. All we need now is a solo Doom book so he won’t hijack Loki’s title, Marvel make that happen!

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside